e-conference – Prevention of cyber-harassment

and school violence

Prevent, act, react…

Thursday 16 September from 13h00 to 14h30 with Bruno HUMBEECK, Educational psychologist, Doctor in Education Sciences, Lecturer at the University of Mons and Head of the Educational Resource Centre for Social Action (CREAS), he works on research projects on school-family relations and society at the Centre for Research on Social Inclusion.

« During this conference, we will learn how to recognise and defuse any form of use of the digital space which, through humiliation, threats, insults, slander, gossip, rumours (denigration), the use of aggressive or sexually charged text messages (sexting) or the public dissemination of intimate images or information (outing) is likely to harm the subject who is the victim …. »

Bruno Humbeeck

The new school year has just begun !

Children, teenagers and young adults are preparing for a year full of learning, discoveries and new encounters, but alongside these moments of sharing there will sometimes be moments of loneliness, abandonment and misunderstanding which can destroy all these hopes and cause wounds, sometimes fatal, for the victim and their loved ones.

Cyber-harassment, on the other hand, is a form of cyberviolence characterised by its repetition and duration. Whether it takes the form of very violent exchanges via instant messaging (flaming) or repeated sending of offensive and violent messages (harassment), cyber-harassment most often appears to be a form of sounding board that amplifies the effects of harassment. The immediate multiplication of “spectators” effectively reinforces the effects of violence in an uncontrollable way…

With cyber-bullying, school time spills over into a continuous temporality. There is no longer any protected space. There is no longer any time to rest. The victim of harassment caught in the shackles of the virtual world feels attacked everywhere and all the time. This is what, in cyber-harassment, multiplies the risks of despair and hopelessness.

Bruno Humbeeck has taught us how to recognise this phenomenon, to prevent it before the damage is done. He has given us the tools to act and react!

Cyber-harassment is an issue that affects us all!

Should you have any questions, please contact OSP-RD@ec.europa.eu